() Washington – The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the average weekly wage of salaried workers in the second quarter were $740, marginally lower than $748 in the previous quarter, though salaried workers’ wages were up 0.8% over the year-ago period.

Government data also showed that unemployment in 39 states had declined in June, though those figures represent a considerable number of workers who’ve dropped out of job search due to the state of the U.S. economy.

Nevada showed dismal unemployment levels with a state average of 14.2 percent in Sen. Harry Reid’s home state where the Democratic leader is facing a re-election campaign against Republican candidate Sharron Angle, though a television smear campaign against Reid’s opponent over jobs is drawing voter attention.  Still, neither Reid or Angle can do much to turn around the State’s lagging gaming and tourism industry that employed thousands.

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, the BLS reported that median earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $632 per week, 75.4 percent of the median for white men, $838. The difference was less among women, as black women’s median earnings ($585) were 85.8 percent of those for white women ($682).  Overall, median earnings of Hispanics who worked full time ($529) were lower than those of blacks ($607), whites ($756), and Asians ($873).

By educational attainment, full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $440, compared with $629 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,138 for those holding at least a bachelor’s degree. Among college graduates with advanced degrees (professional or master’s degree and above), the highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $3,297 or more per week, compared with $2,178 or more for their female counterparts.

Today, the Senate is slated to vote on a measure to extend unemployment benefits, which Republicans have been accused by President Obama of stonewalling passage for political reasons which GOP leaders say is untrue, that their focus is more on how his administration expects to pay for it.

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